Writers’ Emergency Fund

The PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund is an emergency fund for professional—published or produced—writers in acute financial crisis. Depending on the situation and need, the Fund gives average grants of $2,000. It is the Fund’s preference not to give repeated grants within a three-year period.

The Fund for Writers and Editors with HIV/AIDS, administered under the umbrella of the PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund, gives grants of up to $2,000 to professional writers and editors who face serious financial difficulties because of HIV or AIDS-related illness.

The Writers’ Emergency Fund does not exist for research purposes, to enable the completion of writing projects, or to fund publications or organizations. The Writers’ Emergency Fund is for writers whose primary professional occupation is writing. Self-published authors or those published by vanity presses are not eligible. Writers do not have to be Members of PEN America to receive a grant. Applications are considered at meetings of the Fund’s committee, which take place every few months.

In recent years, the PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund and Fund for Writers and Editors with HIV/AIDS has distributed more funds than ever to U.S.-based writers who are facing acute, financial crises, allocating an average of $60,000 to around 40 successful applicants each year. These grants are made possible by the generous support from the Lannan Foundation, The Haven Foundation, PEN America Members, and other supporters. If you would like to support the PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund, click here to make a donation.